Crawling
by viktriap
Summary: Just a short scene at the end of Season3. You could call it a missing scene. It's about Chase and Jack on their way to the hospital.


Disclaimer: As probably everyone knows it, I don't own 24 or its characters.

AN.: This is my first story in this fandom. I got Season 3 and 4 on DVD for Christmas and I fell in love with the series. (I saw Season 1 and 2 before and I liked them but it was nothing like this time!) I especially liked the character of Chase Edmunds and his interaction with Jack. So this is about him, just at the end of the season3 finale.

One more thing: English isn't my native language so there surely will be some mistakes, sorry for them!

**Crawling**

He came to with a gasp and his first instinct was to fight and run. He lashed out with his right arm and hit something solid and heard a yelp. Somebody was shouting.

For some strange reason he couldn't open his eyes, but he felt everything. Felt the restraints over his chest…

_What the hell happened?_

Hands were on him, trying to keep him immobile and he struggled against them and tried to open his eyes again. Saw some light, something white.

"Sir! You have to calm down!" It was a female voice shouting. "We're trying to help you!"

He hurt all over… _How was that help? _His eyes fluttered open for a second and saw a man leaning over him, in some kind of uniform. The man was holding his left arm, tightly.

He tried to pull it away… a tremendous pain shot through him which seemed to originate from his arm but he couldn't think anymore… the pain blinded him… took his breath away… He would have screamed if he had enough oxygen for that… instead he just blacked out.

xxxxxxxx

Jack Bauer joined the paramedics in the exact moment when Chase's eyes rolled back again as the struggling man lost consciousness.

"He's bleeding, Diane!" the male paramedic said in a worried tone.

"Let's get him on the chopper, at last!" she answered and they started to push the gurney which they stopped when their patient woke up in a frenzy.

"Can I go with you?" Jack asked, joining them in their rush.

"Who are you?" the female – Diane – asked. She was clearly the senior from the two.

"Jack Bauer, CTU. I'm his partner."

"All right. Come!" she said.

Jack threw one more glance at the younger agent: he was still and pale and there was an increasing puddle of blood under his left wrist… where his hand should have been. Jack shuddered involuntary… then jogged after the two paramedics.

xxxx

The next time Chase opened his eyes to some thundering noise that he recognized almost immediately. He was on the board of a helicopter. But except that tiny information, everything was still a blur. People were around him and suddenly there was a familiar voice.

"Hey… Chase! Are you with me?"

It was Jack and suddenly he remembered things.

"…virus…"

It was rather a moan than a word and he wanted to say more but nothing else came out. His voice sounded weak and muffled to his own ears and he realized that something was covering his face.

"The virus was isolated, Chase. You did good."

_A praise from Jack? _Was he dying or what? He remembered fragments: fighting for the virus… he was losing and then he tried… tried to get to the virus…

… The clamp… shots were fired…

"His heart-rate is increasing" somebody said over his head. "Pulse is over 110."

_The axe…_

"BP is 70 over 55 and dropping" the same voice said again but Chase couldn't comprehend what that meant.

His breathing became hitched and there was a deep pain in his chest. He had the distinct feeling that something was very wrong.

"…Kim…" he whispered and tried to find Jack with his eyes, but it seemed that everything started to turn grey around him.

_Jack putting the barrel of a gun to his temple… and pulling the trigger._

He jerked as if he were really shot just now and then blinked furiously to focus on Jack's face that was hovering over him.

"…tell her…" he managed before his throat tightened again.

Jack looked worried. It wasn't good… Jack rarely got worried.

"It's okay, Chase! You will tell her later but don't try to talk right now…"

_Two men were pushing him against the wall of the barn… and then there was and excruciating pain as Hector shot through his hand._

He wanted to tell so many things to Kim. He was so sorry.

To his astonishment he felt tears stinging his eyes.

"Pulse 123. BP 62 over 50" the voice said again. It started to get quite irritating.

It seemed that it was getting darker outside. And his eyes closed on their own will.

"No!" it was Jack again. "Stay with me! Come on, Chase! We're almost there, just hold on!"

_Yeah… hold on… maybe he could do that…_

But Jack's voice was quickly fading out thanks to the buzz that was now in his head…

xxxxx

Jack watched as Chase struggled to say something or struggled to stay awake. He wasn't sure. The younger man's breathing was strained but after all he could breathe out a single word.

"…Kim…"

Jack's heart skipped a beat. This was his fault: he should have sent Chase home after they came back from Mexico. Now they might lose him… Kim might lose him!

"…tell her…"

Again? No, he wouldn't tell Kim anything! Most of all not that her boyfriend died because his father chopped down his hand with an axe!

"It's okay, Chase! You will tell her later but don't try to talk right now…"

Chase struggled some more. He was constantly shivering now, Jack could see the tremors running through his whole body. It wasn't just the hand, Jack knew it. Chase must have gotten a few other injuries as well. How long was he beaten in Mexico? Two hours or three?

Damn, he really should have sent him home! But as always the job came first…

Chase's eyes closed suddenly.

"No!" Jack almost shouted at him. "Stay with me! Come on, Chase! We're almost there, just hold on!"

It sounded like an order and the younger agent always obeyed him… or almost always. His eyes fluttered open again but were unfocused.

"How much longer?" Jack turned to the paramedic.

"Less then a minute."

He turned back to Chase whose eyes were still on him but Jack was sure that the kid couldn't see him anymore.

He couldn't do anything else than pray that less then a minute didn't turn out as too long this time…

AN2.: Thanks for reading and please let me know if you liked it or not!


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